Finally found the thread! Phew....was beginning to feel a bit lost there for a moment!!! Wow! Wow and wow again! This news could not have come at a better time! Have had a rubbish week!! (won't bore you with the details just now...time for that later!!)

So.....running wise..

As I said in my pitch for this oh so amazing opportunity- I did the LIverpool marathon jus over two months ago. It was my first marathon, and I was optimistic I'd make sub 4. But, made all the typical first timer mistakes and went off too fast. I knew I had to run at a 9 min mile and yet was convinced I could hold an 8.20 pace. Lesson learnt there!! So...that was an 18 week plan (that I kind of adapted from some random book!) and I stuck to it religiously .....

After the marathon I had a week off then picked up the training again, though I cut my miles to approx 22 a week (retaining a 10 miler on a Saturday). I then did the Stockport 10 miler 2 weeks ago on the back of a stinking cold. It was either jog it or DNS. I jogged it. (1 hour 30). Last couple of weeks just plodded along really, but really looking forwward to upping my game after Christmas!!! Woooohooooooooo!!!!

Hi Rachel! The next few months should be fun. It sounds like you made the same mistake a lot of us did in our first marathon - in fact I made that mistake several times, getting the pace wrong early doors. It looks like you're on track for sub 4 if you avoid that sort of thing.

So what's your plan for after Christmas? Are you going to follow a set plan religeously again, or do you need to be more flexible?

I was thinking to follow a set plan- though it has to fit in with "life". ie my 5 children and fulltime teaching job! Due to the above I tend to do my midweek runs in the morning. Last time I ran 3 weekdays, long run Sat and short run Sun. That kind of limits me to a max of a six mile run midweek, just because of time....My last plan started with a long run of 6 miles, which would seem like a backward step now. It also didn't incorporate anything other than "get out and cover the distance" slogging out the miles. All advice here much appreciated!

Morning! You could probably follow a similar schedule in terms of number of runs, but you could adapt it to suit your 'non-beginner' status. Lots of set plans assume you're starting from scratch. If you've been doing a 10 mile weekend run recently, you could start in January ramping that up by 2 miles a week, so in February you're happy running 20 miles at a nice comfortable pace - nothing too quick, keep that for the weekday shorter stuff. Personally I like to get at least 5 20+ mile runs in before a marathon, done at least 2 weeks apart so don't feel you have to run 20 miles every week.

If you can do 3 midweek runs then quality is what counts. I'd suggest that one of those should be longish intervals (maybe 4 minutes fast, 2 minutes jog) at a pace you can sustain for 6 repetitions (that'll take a bit of practice!) and one should be a tempo 5 miles (not flat out, but beyond where you can have a conversation).

We might need to think about your target: if you can 'jog' 10 miles in 90 minutes when unwell then a 4 hour marathon should be well within your grasp. OTOH we want to avoid going off too fast, so we should probably set something sensible nearer the time.

Well done rach- I'm a chronic sub-4 wannabe ( I've meneged it twice in 8 marathons), and although on the "pitches" thread, I said I wasn't doing a spring marathon, I'm possibly now doing one about a month before my double, so I may join your thread for a bit of motivation, although I suspect I'm supposed to be runnig slightly longer disstsances if my ultimate aim is 56 miles! .

Weather in Scotland is horrendous today....off to the gym for a LSR on tready.

Oooo..lurkers and stalkers! Fab! Please talk lots as well, so I don't feel like I'm the only one asking stupid questions!! Really excited about this...will possibly start investigating training plans later today, so I can type up and colour code!

Hi Rach...working and 5 kids.that is a good busy schedule............I would like to get sub 4 again in a spring marathon but not sure if i am in that kind of shape yet so will see what the next few weeks brings before i decide whether to enter one

I am a great fan of doing a recovery run the day after my long run.......gets everything working again

I tend to cycle or swim the day after a long run seren - gets everything working again without the impact that running has on the joints. If you're doing IM Wales next year a spring marathon would kick that off nicely.

Just been out for a 4 miler.Should have been the usual Sunday 3 mile recovery run, but since I haven't run at anything resembling a decent pace most of December (nasty cold thingy!) I decided I'd push the pace a bit this eve. Maintained a "just over 8 min mile" pace which felt pretty managable. I have noticedthat since upping my miles for the October marathon I did, my general speed slipped. There was a time when I was regularly doing that 4 miles in 31 mins, if not 30 on a good day. That's something I hope to get back somewhere in this process, though I'm aware that age is not on my side!!

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